18 weeks to Midterm Elections
The AoC Checklist features clear, well-researched actions for Americans who value democracy, equality, voting, and decency. We are a big tent for all people who want a kinder, flourishing nation.
If you only have 10 minutes, take our top three suggested actions:
- Action 9: Oppose ICE surveillance on American citizens.
- Action 4: Advocate for abortion access and reproductive freedom in your state.
- Tell your senators: Support a code of ethics for Supreme Court justices.
In this edition of the AoC Checklist:
- Senate actions: What we’re contacting our senators about.
- House actions: What we’re contacting our House reps about.
- Action 1: Verify your voter registration monthly through November.
- Action 2: Encourage young people to become voters who support reproductive justice.
- Action 3: Register to vote and encourage others to do the same.
- Action 4: Advocate for abortion access and reproductive freedom in your state.
- Action 5: Choose five additional actions to support reproductive justice.
- Action 6: Call for inclusive federal nutrition programs.
- Action 7: Advocate against new fossil fuel investments.
- Action 8: Demand an end to NFL-assisted deportations.
- Action 9: Oppose ICE surveillance on American citizens.
- Say Thanks: Acts of Gratitude
- Check out Good News from around the nation
- How you can support and share the AoC Checklist
Contact your senators
Check the box if you made contact–whether for one issue or all–so we can count your action. Contacting your senators’ staffers with multiple concerns is more efficient for both of you. They don’t mind, but be sure to contact both progressives and conservatives. They need to hear from you.
Join the 0 Americans of Conscience who have completed this action by checking the tally box!
Your script: Hi, I’m from [ZIP] calling/writing about several issues. I’d like Sen. [NAME] to:
- Co-sponsor and pass S.4010 and S.2512 to establish a code of ethics for Supreme Court justices. [Source: Brennan Center]
- Support continued affordable health care by making the American Rescue Plan’s Health Care Marketplace Subsidies permanent. [Source: Moms Rising]
Contact your House representative
Check the box if you made contact–whether for one issue or all–so we can count your action. Contacting your representative’s staffers with multiple concerns is more efficient for both of you. They don’t mind, but be sure to contact both progressives and conservatives. They need to hear from you.
Look up your House representative here.
Join the 0 Americans of Conscience who have completed this action by checking the tally box!
Your script: Hi, I’m from [ZIP] calling/writing about several issues. I’d like Rep. [NAME] to:
- Co-sponsor and pass H.R.7426 and H.R.4766 to establish a code of ethics for Supreme Court justices. [Source: Brennan Center]
- Support continued affordable health care by making the American Rescue Plan’s Health Care Marketplace Subsidies permanent. [Source: Moms Rising]
I value democracy
With respect and collaboration, we work to create a nation that welcomes all people, expands freedoms, and upholds the Constitution. Each citizen must be able to freely and fairly elect those who represent their values.
Action 1: Verify your voter registration monthly through November.
Source: AoCC
Join the 0 Americans of Conscience who have completed this action by checking the tally box!
In March, voters in Texas reported that their registration was canceled without notice or reason while trying to vote in their primary. Don’t let this be you. Commit to checking your registration monthly, even if you think it’s secure.
Visit: Vote.org.
Action 2: Encourage young people to become voters who support reproductive justice.
Source: The Civics Center
Join the 0 Americans of Conscience who have completed this action by checking the tally box!
Millions of eligible 18-24 year-olds, a demographic disproportionately affected by the overturning of Roe v. Wade, are not yet registered to vote. These potential voters are the most likely to believe abortion should be legal, but they are among the least likely to show up at the polls. Their votes could make a difference in November.
Share: On your social media The Civics Center graphic to make registering to vote easy (tag The Civics Center on Twitter to show your support).
Donate: to The Civics Center to support their youth voter registration efforts, including National High School Voter Registration Week (September 19-23, 2022).
I value equality
Support the dignity of your rainbow of neighbors from every religion, race, ethnicity, culture, gender, sexual orientation, economic status, age, and ability.
Action 3: Register to vote and encourage others to do the same.
Source: NAACP
Join the 0 Americans of Conscience who have completed this action by checking the tally box!
Every person who is eligible to vote in the U.S. has a responsibility to participate in our democracy, yet new voting restrictions in many states are making it difficult for voters of color in particular to register and cast their ballots. The NAACP is partnering with vote.org to overcome these efforts limiting voting access.
Register to Vote: At vote.org, and encourage friends and family to do the same.
Action 4: Advocate for abortion access and reproductive freedom in your state.
Source: AoCC and SisterSong
Join the 0 Americans of Conscience who have completed this action by checking the tally box!
Find out your state’s abortion stance: Using this tool.
Contact: Your STATE legislators and governor (look up).
Script: Hello, I’m contacting you from [ZIP] in support of the fundamental human right to abortion access. Denying access to safe abortions will have a devastating impact on the well-being of women and pregnant people. That’s why I’m asking you to introduce, support, and advance legislation, policies, and state constitutional amendments that protect access to and ensure insurance coverage for critical reproductive health services, including abortion, in [STATE].
Feeling overwhelmed? Make a donation to a Practical Support Organization which arranges transportation out of state.
Action 5: Choose five additional actions to support reproductive justice.
Source: Who Not When
Join the 0 Americans of Conscience who have completed this action by checking the tally box!
Who Not When created a thorough list of actions you can take to advance abortion access, medical privacy, and reproductive justice. Choose five and make a plan to complete them.
Visit: Roe V. Wade: What You Can Do.
Action 6: Call for inclusive federal nutrition programs.
Source: Feeding America Action
Join the 0 Americans of Conscience who have completed this action by checking the tally box!
Contact: The U.S. Department of Agriculture by phone at (703) 305-2062, by mail at Food & Nutrition Service, Braddock Metro Center II, 1320 Braddock Place, Alexandria, VA 22314, or through the AskUSDA contact form.
Script: Hi. I’m contacting you from [STATE] asking you to make federal nutrition programs more accessible to LGBTQ+ people. LGBTQ+ individuals and families experience higher rates of poverty and hunger, and access to these programs provides much-needed nutrition, health, and economic security. I’m joining advocates in urging your department to use inclusive language in program materials and implement anti-bias training for administrators, caseworkers, and personnel to make these benefits more accessible to the LGBTQ+ community.
Action 7: Advocate against new fossil fuel investments.
Source: Gulf Coast Center for Law & Policy (GCCLP)
Join the 0 Americans of Conscience who have completed this action by checking the tally box!
Contact: President Biden via the White House contact form.
Script: Hi, I’m contacting you from [STATE] in support of your campaign promise to ban new offshore drilling leases. Our communities, children, and grandchildren deserve clean water, healthy food, and jobs powered by justly-sourced, renewable energy—not fossil fuels that disproportionately harm Black, Indigenous, rural, and low-income communities. I join dozens of organizations in urging you to discontinue all new offshore drilling leases, and invest in the nation’s renewable energy security and independence.
Bonus (for residents of the Gulf South): Sign the GCCLP petition.
Action 8: Demand an end to NFL-assisted deportations.
Source: United We Dream
Join the 0 Americans of Conscience who have completed this action by checking the tally box!
Contact: The New England Patriots’ Administrative Offices at (508) 543-8200 or via email at customerservice@gillettestadium.com.
Script: Hi, I’m [a football fan] reaching out because I strongly oppose the use of the Patriots team airplane to facilitate ICE deportations. The National Football League should not receive government funding to carry out the inhumane transportation of aspiring Americans away from their communities and families. I’m calling on you to reject any future contracts with the DHS, and stop using your resources in this partisan, harmful way.
Alternate: Sign the United We Dream petition (you will be automatically subscribed to their mailing list).
Action 9: Oppose ICE surveillance on American citizens.
Source: AoCC
Join the 0 Americans of Conscience who have completed this action by checking the tally box!
Email: The report to your STATE legislators (look up).
Script: A recent report by the Georgetown Law Center on Privacy & Technology shows that ICE is extensively spying on American citizens. This ‘dragnet’ surveillance of myself and my neighbors, is done without any congressional, judicial, or local oversight. It is non-consensual and violates my Fourth Amendment rights. I would like to know:
- Does [NAME] support ICE’s practice of accessing state motor vehicle department information and local utilities records to surveil U.S. citizens?
- Will [NAME] read the report in its entirety to understand ICE surveillance practices and their implications?
I look forward to learning what you will be doing in response to this report.
Bonus: Make an appointment to talk to your state legislators or someone on their staff. Print and bring the report to make sure they are aware of it. Most state legislators have a local office and many have specific times when constituents can come to speak with them or a staff person.
Acts of Gratitude
Signatures to the forms below will be printed with a letter of thanks from Americans of Conscience, and mailed to the recipient 2 weeks after the Checklist publication date. Your information will not be stored after that date.
Thank the conservative-leaning Washington Examiner its editorial condemning the actions of the former president on January 6th, 2020. I agree that our democracy needs principled leaders who respect their constituents and uphold the Constitution.
If you’d like to mail your own personal expression of gratitude, use this address: Carly Hagan, ℅ Washington Examiner, 1152 15th St. NW, Suite 200, Washington, DC 20005
Thank Govs. Charlie Baker (R–MA), Lujan Grisham (D–NM), and Tim Walz (D-MN) for protecting the reproductive rights of all people, not just those living in their states, by signing an executive order preventing state agencies from cooperating in the investigation, arrest, or surrender of anyone criminally charged by another state for seeking or providing an abortion.
If you’d like to mail your own personal expression of gratitude, use these addresses:
CB: State Office Building, 436 Dwight St., Suite 300, Springfield, MA 01103
LG: NM State Capitol, 490 Old Santa Fe Trail, Room 400, Santa Fe, NM 87501
TW: 130 State Capitol, 75 Rev Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., St. Paul, MN 55155
Good News
As Americans of Conscience, we celebrate!
Progress on issues previously featured as actions in the Checklist
- Ketanji Brown Jackson is sworn in as the Supreme Court’s first Black woman justice.
- The five Tribes of the Bears Ears Commission will co-manage Bears Ears National Monument with the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service.
- SCOTUS rules that the Biden administration can end a dangerous immigration policy known as “Remain in Mexico” ending the practice of sending asylum seekers to wait in dangerous conditions and thwarting due process.
- IN, MS, LA, TN, and TX will use paper ballots starting with 2024’s elections.
Reproductive Rights
- CA protects individuals from civil liability for providing, aiding, or receiving abortion care.
- CA voters in the midterm election could potentially include abortion rights in the state’s constitution.
- CT allows non-physician advanced practice clinicians to perform abortions by vacuum aspiration (decreasing wait times for patients).
- CT law protects patients and providers from out-of-state legal actions.
- FL: Circuit court blocks a 15-week abortion ban from going into effect, finding it “unconstitutional” and in violation of “the privacy provision of the Florida constitution”.
- IL: Minors are now free to exercise their right to abortion without acquiring parental consent.
- LA: Court temporarily blocks a “trigger law” that would ban abortions in the state.
- MA: Via executive order, Gov. Charlie Baker prohibits the state from cooperating with extradition requests from other states against people receiving or assisting with abortions.
- MN: Via executive order, Gov. Tim Walz prevents state agencies from cooperating with other states pursuing legal action against anyone seeking or providing an abortion.
- MN AG Keith Ellison pledges that no one from any state will be prosecuted in MN for seeking, helping someone else seek, or providing an abortion.
- NM: Via executive order, Gov. Lujan Grisham ensures abortion access.
- NY passes omnibus legislation protecting the abortion rights of residents and out-of-state patients by:
- Increasing confidentiality for abortion patients and providers.
- Prohibiting disciplinary measures against healthcare practitioners who provide services to out-of-state patients.
- Barring malpractice insurance companies from taking adverse action against providers.
- Blocking NY courts from issuing subpoenas in connection with out-of-state abortion proceedings.
- Prohibiting the extradition of abortion providers to other states.
- TN ends the practice of forcing incarcerated people to give birth in shackles.
- UT: Court temporarily blocks a “trigger law” banning abortions after Planned Parenthood sued.
- VT residents will vote in November to potentially enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution.
- Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot pledges $500,000 for abortion access.
- Denton City Council passes a resolution asking police to de-prioritize TX’s abortion restriction laws.
- Duolingo pledges to leave PA if the state bans abortion.
- A growing list of U.S. companies will cover employee travel costs for out-of-state medical care, including abortion and gender-affirming care.
- The Liberate Abortion Campaign offers guidance for accessing abortion in person or by medication, protesting the Dobbs decision, and supporting abortion funds and clinics.
- If/When/How provides a legal helpline to help people seeking abortion exercise their reproductive rights.
- Gizmodo publishes a guide to protecting your digital privacy while accessing abortion care.
- American Medical Association declares abortion bans a violation of human rights.
- American Association for People with Disabilities issues a statement opposing the Dobbs ruling, conveying the unique needs of disabled people and affirming their right to make decisions about their bodies and lives.
- The synagogue Congregation L’Dor Va-Dor sues FL over the state’s abortion restrictions, which violate Jewish people’s religious freedoms.
- Abortion funds raise millions in donations to provide financial and logistical support to people seeking the procedure.
- Lizzo and Live Nation pledge $1M towards Planned Parenthood and the National Network of Abortion Funds.
- Cisgender men in TX take reproductive responsibility by getting vasectomies at a higher rate. In MO and KS, vasectomy inquiries are up 900%.
- A new clinic, Partners in Abortion Care, opens in MD, while Jackson Women’s Health Organization will open an additional clinic in NM.
- Adora Perez, convicted following a stillbirth, has her 11-year prison sentence overturned.
Tribal
- The annual Sumi’nungwa Hopi Festival returns after a two-year hiatus.
- The Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head Aquinnah and community volunteers plant beach grass to protect their homelands from the impacts of climate change.
- Patrice H. Kunesh of Standing Rock Lakota descent is nominated for Commissioner for the HHS Administration for Native Americans.
- SCOTUS affirms the inherent right of the Ute Mountain Ute to exercise sovereignty over crimes against Native women on the Tribe’s lands.
National
- Congress passes and the president signs gun safety legislation, breaking 30 years of gridlock.
- House passes the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act, which would remove marijuana’s status as a controlled substance and decriminalize manufacturing, distributing, or possessing it.
- House votes to grant congressional staff the right to unionize.
- Congress extends free school meals to kids until the end of summer.
- President Biden issues 78 pardons and sentence commutations and proposes an administration strategy to help formerly incarcerated people secure employment.
- The U.S. Air Force offers medical and legal help to members’ families affected by state laws discriminating against and endangering LGBTQ+ children.
- Dept. of Ed will update Section 504 to ensure the civil rights law’s regulations are current and responsive to the experiences of students with disabilities.
- Alvaro Bedoya, with a background in digital privacy, is confirmed by the Senate to serve as an FTC Commissioner.
State
- CO exempts diapers and period products from sales tax.
- CO Republican voters reject three election deniers for statewide office.
- GA residents vote in record-breaking numbers in the state’s primary election.
- GA will return over $1 billion in state surplus funds to taxpayers who filed returns for 2020 and 2021.
- MA residents can obtain driver’s licenses regardless of immigration status.
- MA enacts voter reforms including no-excuse vote-by-mail, expanded early voting, and jail-based voting.
- ME denies public funding to private schools that discriminate against LGBTQ+ students.
- NE Supreme Court rules in favor of a worker who refused to take on a sick coworker’s responsibilities for no additional pay.
- RI launches a pilot program offering some first-generation homebuyers up to $25,000 toward a down payment and closing costs.
- TX: Court issues a temporary restraining order stop to the governor’s intrusive and unnecessary directive to investigate families of transgender youth.
- WA creates an alert system for missing Indigenous people.
Local
- Cavalier Johnson is elected mayor of Milwaukee, becoming the first Black person in history elected to the position.
- Evanston, IL becomes the first U.S. city to offer reparations to Black residents.
- Early voting expands to all of Chicago and Cook County.
- Early voting participation in Moultrie, GA surpasses expectations.
- Visitors to Newport, RI can utilize RIPTA’s free hop-on-hop-off bus service to tourist destinations and beaches.
Corporate/business
- Target sells gender-affirming garments like compression tops and swimsuits in extended sizes.
- The Washington Post provides a guide to terms related to LGBTQ+ identities.
- Intuit pays $141 million in restitution to 4.4 million low-income customers who were improperly charged for using TurboTax Free Edition.
- Twitter bans ads denying climate change.
Groups and organizations
- NAACP will partner with Vote.org to boost Black voter turnout in November’s midterms.
- The Magnolia Mother’s Trust initiative provides low-income Black mothers in Jackson, MS $1,000 cash on a monthly basis, no strings attached, for 12 months.
- The Faith for Equality Coalition launches Faith for Pride, a month-long effort to include progress on LGBTQ+ rights in religious services and programs.
- Civil Eats suggests a reading list to increase knowledge of injustice in food systems and how to improve justice.
- Nearly 200 workers at MA Planned Parenthood clinics file to join the 1199SEIU union.
- Amazon workers in NYC vote to unionize.
- GLAAD and other LGBTQ+ rights advocates boycott Chelsea Piers following an event featuring FL’s governor, who signed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill.
- Gun safety activists protest an NRA convention following multiple mass shootings.
News with heart
- Hillcrest Memorial Funeral Home offers free services for families who lost loved ones in the Uvalde shooting.
- Jacky Hunt-Broersma, who uses a leg prosthesis, runs 104 marathons in 104 days.
- The first cohort of students in Georgetown University’s degree program for incarcerated people
- attends their first semester of classes.
- Aspiring American Jacob reunites with his family after being released from immigration detention.
- FL high school student Will Larkins’ lesson on the Stonewall riots goes viral.
- NY strengthens animal protections and bans pet stores from selling dogs from puppy mills.
- The Matrix filmmakers Lilly and Lana Wachowski auction off film memorabilia to raise money to support trans youth.
- Ariana Grande pledges to match up to $1.5 million in donations to LGBTQ advocacy groups to help counter discriminatory state-level bills.
- Glass Half Full reclaims glass from landfills to create sand used to restore habitat on the LA coastline.
- Star Wars comics feature LGBTQ+ characters on their covers, all drawn by LGBTQ+ artists.
- Marvel Comics debuts a new trans superhero named Escapade.
- Laverne Cox has a Barbie doll designed in her likeness, becoming the first trans person to ever have a Barbie modeled after them.
- The Black Emotional and Mental Health Collective closes for summer break.
- Sen. Alex Padilla works for a day with CA farmworkers and urges Congress to ensure their fair pay and a path to citizenship.
- Dolly Parton donates another $1M to infectious disease research—this time benefitting children.
- Greece bans so-called “conversion therapy.”
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